Frustrated Scots hospital workers 'left wandering in the dark' at end of shifts

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scots hospital workers have spoken of their frustrations at a new parking scheme and claim it is leaving staff "wandering around in the dark" after their shifts end.

The concerned frontline workers at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh say the controversial staff permit scheme leaves staff having to go off site at the hospital at the end of the night, with many fearing for their safety.

It is believed staff at the Royal who finish between 8pm to midnight are left 'wandering the streets in the dark' or waiting on shuttle buses.

Staff have written to health bosses urging them to award priority points under the permit scheme for those who don't work core hours of 9am to 5pm.One nurse said the recent lifting of restrictions allowing parking on site without a permit for those arriving after 11.30am is 'absolutely no help' to the majority of backshift staff who start work between 7am and 8.30am.The concerns have also prompted renewed calls from MSPs for permit sharing to be implemented, following a pledge by health chiefs in February to consider the move.Just 1,800 of 8,000 staff have permits, for only 1127 available spaces at the Royal France site.Demand saw some 3,000 workers apply for permits which were allocated before all applications could be processed.Staff raised safety concerns over the new parking rules after they came into effect in January.Workers are told to use the Sheriffhall park-and-ride two miles away and a free shuttle service to the site which previously stopped at 20:15, was recently extended until 21:15.Chaperones are available by a security team and police increased patrols at the site.NHS Lothian said it's listening to staff concerns - but some say recent changes don't go far enough to resolve